A proposed replacement desktop PC for my existing laptop to run DCS on my Reverb g2. Cash obviously comes into it, but looking through the correspondence on the components for a good DCS desk top I am considering this specification. The 3080ti seems much the same as a 3090 and the i7 runs as well as the i9. Have I missed anything?
Should anything be upgraded/downgraded?
Please tell me I am wrong before I blow a lot of cash? I will continue to use my hi spec laptop for other computer tasks and the new pc will be almost exclusively for DCS and MSFS in VR
1x Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X D4 Motherboard
1x Noctua NH-D15S CPU Cooler
1x Intel Core i7-12700K CPU, 3.6 - 5.0GHz
1x 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX Black DDR4 3200MHz Memory (2 x 16GB Sticks)
1x NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GDDR6X Graphics Card
1x 500GB Samsung 980 PRO M.2 PCIe Gen 4 Solid State Drive
1x 2TB Samsung 870 QVO Solid State Drive
1x Pre-Install Cabling for Additional Solid State Drive
1x Corsair RM850 80 PLUS Gold 850W PSU
1x Windows 11 Home Standard
1x Fractal Design Meshify 2 Case - Black
I think that looks good, and is a well balanced build. The M2 is a tad small (1 TB is more usual and probably not much more), but the SSD makes up for it. The Noctura cooler is very good.
The cutting edge is DDR5 memory, but not really worth the extra, due to shortages/newness tax.
If not z690/i7 then youâre looking at AMD stuff, and I have less experience with that. It might be better value but I donât have the data to quantify it. What youâve picked will work great though.
Thanks. I designed a dream machine where cost was not a factor starting with a RTX3090 . I then had a long chat with the firm that built my laptop. They came back to me with the above spec saying it would more than do what I needed but that it would be ÂŁ1500 cheaper. Cash is obviously a significant factor but DCS is now my replacement for flying for a living, so my wife would release the cash if we needed to. It would come with a five year warranty and I like the computers I have seen them build, including my laptop. Now I just have to wait for the January sales.
The M2 is rated as 6,900 MB/s read, 5,000 MB/s write, with an upgrade to the 1TB from 512 GB and about ÂŁ30 more.
That SSD isnât a speedy one, and rated at 560 MB/s read, 530 MB/s write, so a different order of performance down. A lot of the time we are talking about 5 seconds to boot Windows rather than 7 (disk isnât the bottleneck), but for bigger games (and they are all getting biggerâŠ) it does make a difference somewhat.
It is funny how quickly the âdiskâ landscape changed. The order now seems to be âget the biggest PCI 4 based M2 you can, as youâve only got two slotsâ, then âTreat SSDs like your used to treat spinny mechanical drivers - good for slow or dont-care-about-speed storageâ. SATA sort of became the bottleneck, even at 6 Gbps across channels.
Iâll geek over the CPU cooler a bit here, as I went through this exercise in detail when I built my computer. I wanted good air cooling and a compact case, so this ended up being a factor. I got it right, but it did require a bit of thinking and a compromise of sorts.
NH-D15S is the better fitting version, it should be okay but yes, do get the clearance checked.
I had to go with the asymmetric NH-D15S in the single fan configuration to provide RAM clearance. In single fan configuration you get 65mm RAM clearance which is heaps - they have effectively shaped the lowest part of the radiator such that you have lots of space.
You can add a second fan if you want (bought separately), but that goes above the RAM slots and if the second fan is installed at the same height as the first, you only get 32mm RAM clearance - only enough for a handful of low profile RAM modules (Corsair LPX and such) which might be an issue if you canât get the RAM you want in the profile you want.
The solution is to fit the second fan higher - it just clips on the radiator so you can fit it at different heights - but that means you need to check the case specifications and âCPU cooler max heightâ in particular.
In my compact case, the overall heat sink stack height had to be under 169mm so it doesnât hit the left side wall of the PC. I might just be able to fit a second fan higher, but I only have 1-2mm to spare so if I got my math wrong the fan would be pushing against the top of the RAM once the case is closed - not good.
I didnât have the RAM attached when I took this pic, but you can see the RAM slots and the cutout on the radiator stack to provide clearance. If you add a second fan, it goes on side thatâs facing the camera here (i.e. above the RAM slots) and reaches down to the same height as the first fan (32mm from the mobo).
TL:DR: I recommend NHD-15S over NH-D15. Donât bother with a second fan unless you have heaps of headroom as that can bring complexity - single fan is ample for cooling.
This is the only bit that concerns me. Is it not better to get an I9 and not worry about the overclocking? As it will be probably me that has to do that (gladly obviously) for him anyway the point is moot anyway but i Still think an I9 if your gonna spend that sort of dough anyway
That i7 has an unlocked multiplier (the K at the end of 12700K) so is just as easy to overclock than an i9. The i9 brings more physical cores (16 vs 12), but unless you do a lot of video or model work then usually an i7 is plenty enough and might not be worth the price difference. The Alder Lake series also boost to 5 GHz themselves stock as well (the newest i9 goes to 5.2), so any additional overclocking will just be unlocking the other cores to do that as well (if needed).
Itâs all looking great but go for a bigger m.2 dri e IMHO
Also with regard cooling and overclocking
Compare an all in one liquid cooling solution with your chosen heatsink cooler.
There will be software ships with the mobo that will overclock for you and a BIOS option to use a factory overclock with one mouse click.
Good luck with it mate
